Gas turbine engines have long been used to propel aircraft, generate electric power, and pump fluids, etc. The turbine sections of such engines comprise alternating rows of static vanes and rotating blades. These vanes stabilize and direct the gas flow from one row of rotating turbine blades to the next, thereby optimizing the amount of work that is extracted from the turbine section. A nozzle area is defined by the spacing between adjacent vanes, and is typically assigned a classification number corresponding to the volumetric gas flow that passes therethrough.
During operation, abrasives and corrosives in the hot gas flow impinge upon the turbine vanes, causing them to deteriorate, erode or become otherwise damaged. Furthermore, the hot gas flow causes distortion of the vanes, which enlarges the nozzle area and diminishes the efficiency of the turbine. Therefore, during periodic engine overhauls, these turbine vanes are inspected for physical damage and are evaluated to determine the change in the flow area or nozzle classification that has occurred. Generally, these vanes must either be replaced, or damaged areas must be repaired and eroded material must be replaced to reclassify the vanes before they can be returned to service in an engine.
While there are many existing methods for repairing and/or reclassifying components such as turbine vanes, they all have their drawbacks. Therefore, it would be desirable to have improved methods for repairing and/or reclassifying such components. It would also be desirable to have methods for repairing and/or reclassifying such components that may otherwise be unrepairable.